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| Why Mom Deserves a Diamond® contest |
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WORDS WORTH A DIAMOND
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Mission Viejo teenager writes a poem that wins his mother a heart-shaped gem Amanda Glowish, Orange County Register. MAR 19, 2007. The poetry contest was worth five extra points in class...and a diamond. |
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Free Diamonds! Contests fulfill – and create- the diamond dream. By Susan Thea Posnock, National Jeweler Magazine. May 1, 2007. Pg. 24. For 15 years, Gallery of Diamonds in Newport Beach, Calif., has been giving away diamonds as part of its trademarked WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND® contest. “It started very humbly. It was just kids from local schools that sent in essays, and now it’s nationwide with 15,000 to 20,000 kids sending in essays about their mom,” says Gallery of Diamonds president Michael Watson, who first started the contest to honor his adoptive mother. “Sometimes they forget that were Gallery of Diamonds, but when they hear the phrase, “WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND® they say, Oh, I know those jewelers,’” he says, adding that the contest is about than more than just prizes. “For us it’s been incredibly successful because we’ve done it not just for the business aspect of it,” he says. “It’s been business with meaning, and in the long run that will pay.” |
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The Legendary Writing Contest |
| It began in 1993 as an event to honor store owner Michael Watson’s adoptive mother and the birth mother he had never known. In the twelve years since, more than 150,000 children have submitted essays to prove their mothers should receive one of three quarter-carat diamonds awarded annually by Gallery of Diamonds. The first contest, which garnered 250 entries, awarded only one diamond to the most creative contestant. However, Watson also selected 50 second-place winners and awarded each a red African garnet. He called each winner to come into the then two-year-old store to receive their prize.
The strategy proved to be a brilliant one... The annual event soon put Gallery of Diamonds on the map - first locally, then nationally. With 22,629 entries in 2005, the company’s website touts the contest as, “The greatest tribute to mom in the nation.” The store employs a staff of five to read through all the essays each year, and the contest now takes eight months of preparation. Today, Gallery of Diamonds awards two diamonds (valued at $500 each) locally in Orange County, and one nationally (this year’s winner was from Colorado Springs). Inspired by the contest, Watson has recently published a book chronicling his 20-year search for his birthmother entitled – Adopted Like Me- Chosen to Search for Truth, Identity, and a Birthmother. The WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND® contest created by Gallery of Diamonds is by far the highest-profile, most successful, to date. |
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Kids say their moms are real gems.
Poetry-contest winners are awarded jewels from a Costa Mesa merchant who started the event after a fruitless search for his mom.  Michael Watson of Gallery of Diamonds talks to finalists in the contest he created in which children write about their mothers. A photo of Watson’s adoptive mom, Martha, sits in the foreground. Ana Venegas, The Orange County Regster. Condensed article by Lori Basheda. Orange County Register. 3-8-2004. Michael Watson searched 20 years for his mother. By the time he found her, she was dead. "Sometimes she's a sloth, sleeping quietly," one student penned. "She sings like a crow," reads another poem. "She gave up her fun and young life to be a mother," another child wrote. "My mom supplies me with food, water and other things I need for special occasions," reads another. In 1993, the year Watson started the contest, he received 200 poems from local schools. Now the contest is on the Web and practically part of the spring curriculum in many local schools. This year, some 21,000 poems from every state in the country landed on Watson's doorstep. Sitting at his desk, he plucks one out of a pile and reads it aloud - with feeling. "Ooo, that's good," he says. "These kids pour their hearts out for their moms." It's something he always wanted to do. It was 1958 when Watson was put up for adoption. As long as he can remember, the woman he calls "Mom," Martha Watson, called him her "little adopted angel." His dad, Stoy, told him they went to the hospital one day and, standing before a room full of cribs, he shouted "I'll take that curly-headed one!" As Watson grew up, he needed to hear more. "I needed a past," he said. His parents finally told him a woman named Betty Price gave him up and that she lived at 2115 N. Delaware St. in Indianapolis, a few hours away. He made up his mind to find her someday. He never would have asked why she gave him up, he says. He just wanted to see her. When Watson got his first car, he drove to the courthouse in Indianapolis to ask for his adoption records. Just as his mom warned, the judge wouldn't hand them over. So he drove to 2115 N. Delaware St. The lot was empty, the house torn down. A few years later Watson went back to the judge. Again he was turned away. Again he went to Delaware Street. This time he knocked on doors to see if anyone remembered Betty Price. A trusting elderly couple listened to his story. They invited him in to use their phone book. Then they headed off to find out who shot J.R. on the TV show "Dallas" at a neighbor's house. "Price was like Smith," Watson said. "There were millions." Not to mention it was a rotary-dial phone. Michael locked the door behind him when he left. Finally, on a third visit to the courthouse, for whatever reason, the judge handed him his folder. "My heart is pounding; this is something about me!" he recalls thinking. It was an interview Betty Price gave to the court after she handed her baby over. It was full of clues. She quit school and married Carl Price when she was 16. They had a child. But she divorced her husband because he was "never true to her." She didn't know who the father of this baby was. It was "like a bad dream." In the interview Betty also says she was from Plymouth, Ind. "It's a lie I followed for many years," Watson says. The search went on for 13 more years. "It's not an everyday thing," he said. "You forget about it for a year, until Mother's Day. Or you go to a doctor and they ask you to write your history of diabetes and heart disease and you say, 'I don't know.'" One day, after marrying a woman named Carmen and becoming the father of a stepdaughter, he got that feeling again. This time he sent letters to every courthouse in Indiana looking for a marriage license. One day he got an envelope from Coatesville, Ind. Inside was the marriage license of Carl Price and Betty Stewart, daughter of Hattie Stewart. Watson dialed directory assistance and asked for Hattie Stewart. "Oh, when she said hold for the number I almost hung up," he said. "This is the moment. What do I say? 'Hi, my name is Michael. I live in California. I think your daughter is my mother.' See how stupid that sounds?" It took him 24 hours to dial. When he did, Hattie Stewart told him he had the wrong number. Michael persisted. Stewart paused. She told him that her daughter did have a child in 1958, but he was stillborn. "I said, 'Ma'am, that is me. And I'm very much alive. And you are my grandmother.' There was total silence." Finally she said, "You know, we always wondered if you were alive." Sometimes when her daughter was drunk, she would ramble that she had to find Jonathan, the name she gave to her "stillborn" baby. "Can I talk to her?" Michael was ready. He had steeled himself for rejection. But death? It never even crossed his mind. Betty Price, it turns out, died thirteen years before at age 46. Cirrhosis of the liver killed her. Within a few weeks Michael was on a plane to New Albany. His grandmother drove two hours from Coatesville to meet him at his childhood home. She gave him a picture of his mother when she was pregnant with him. It is the only picture he has of them together. |
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Hernandez’s 29 words earns sparkling gift.
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Condensed articles by Rich Clark and Kristi Rangel-King. Houston Chronicle. TEXAS. May 9-10, 2001.
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| Senior Jesus Hernandez recently won the WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND® poetry contest, sponsored by Gallery of Diamonds in Costa Mesa, CA. There were two California state winners but Hernandez was the only national winner. Gallery of Diamonds owner Michael Watson said he wanted to find a way to show the value mothers have in our lives. Winning first place...has not made Hernandez forget the spirit of Mother’s Day. "The diamond does not mean anything to me," said Hernandez. "It’s the fact that people will read my poem and see I love my mother." "I love my son," said Hernandez's mother, Carmen. "The words that he used, it came from his soul." |
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Essay Nets Diamond for Delphos student |
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Diamonds really are a girl’s best friend. Just ask Ashley Kreidler and her mother, Mary Jo. The 16-year-old junior at Delphos St. John’s High School wrote a 29-word essay on why her mother deserves a diamond. She beat out 1,500 other Ohioans to win a quarter carat diamond for her mother on Mother’s Day. Ashley never expected to win when she entered the 8th annual WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND® essay contest. Her English teacher Sue Knippen gave the entire class and opportunity to write an essay. Both mom and daughter were shocked to hear that Ashley won. Mary Jo, a nurse at Lima Memorial Hospital, said when she found out about the diamond they both, "just kind of screamed." |
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Tribute to Moms Sparkle Like Diamonds
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Condensed article from Theresa Walker.
Orange County Register. April 28, 2002. |
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Harry Hudson compares his mother to a rose in a garden. Amanda Wheeler likens her mom to a river that flows through her life. Their prose earned each of their moms a one-quarter carat diamond from the Gallery of Diamonds’ annual Why Mom Deserves a Diamond® contest. One national winner, Matthew Scott of Heartland High School in Missouri, also was presented with a diamond for his mom. |
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New Albany Boy’s Words |
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Tribune. INDIANA. April 2, 2000. |
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Michael Watson wanted to find a way to pay tribute to his adoptive mother. By doing that, he has also found a way for children to pay tribute to their mothers, both adopted and biological. Watson is a New Albany native who moved to Costa Mesa, California and opened Gallery of Diamonds in 1991. Watson began the contest in 1993, and for the first time a New Albany student was chosen as one of the winners. For the students who don’t win the contest, Watson said they can still give their mothers their essay and let them know how much they care. That way, he said everybody is a winner. |
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Gallery of Diamonds Awards Gifts for Mom
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| Costa Mesa, Calif-- While creating the largest Mother's Day essay contest in the nation was not Michael Watson's intention, sharing an appreciation and love for all mothers certainly was. Without a doubt, he has succeeded.
In 1993, Gallery of Diamonds President Watson was searching for his birth mother, after being raised by a loving adoptive family. In honor of both women, he decided to invite students to write an essay about WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND®. Two hundred and fifty poetic expressions rolled in, and thus was born this special competition held annually by the jewelry store. "In homage to my adoptive mother, Martha Watson, and the birth mother I had never known, I began the contest for kids to let their moms know that they love them," Watson says. |
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2006 Orange County Diamond Winners
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| On Diamond Day, March 4, two Orange County, California Diamond Winners received a quarter-carat diamond valued at $500 in the 14th annual WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND® writing contest. Gallery of Diamonds was founded in 1991 as a specialist in diamonds. The ministry of the mothers contest, however, has become deeper than the business itself. What started as a humble dedication to moms has grown into a national tradition in which thousands of kids can express their feeelings, while taking the time to reflect on the importance of their moms. As of this 14th contest, over 165,000 kids fom the United States have composed essays for their moms. |
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Girl Pens Poem, Wins
Quarter-Carat Diamond for Mother |
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The Amarillo Globe News. TEXAS. May 3, 2000.
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"A glorious angel sent from heaven, with beauty like a dove." With these simple words, Jennifer Scruggs expressed her feelings for her mother. And if those words were not enough, perhaps the quarter-carat diamond she won will be. Jennifer, 11, and her fifth-grade classmates at Sleepy Hollow Elementary School entered the WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND® contest, sponsored by Gallery of Diamonds in Costa Mesa, California, and her poem was selected as one of the eight wining entries from throughout the country. |
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Moms...Celebrate a Gem of a Mother’s Day.
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Dorothy Jean. April 20, 1999.
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 In 1993, I was at Michael’s store, Gallery of Diamonds, interviewing him for an article.Just then, his very first Diam
ond Winner, a tenth-grader from Huntington Beach came in with her mom to pick out her prize, an unmounted diamond. I don’t know who was more excited, the teenager, her mother, Michael, or me.
My article was shelved and never saw print, but I've covered the WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND® award ceremonies ever since and am always thrilled for the kids, their moms...and for Michael. The annual event is a happy, heartfelt, almost super-human endeavor for a man who wants kids to be sure to tell their moms that they love them. "Although reared by a wonderful adoptive mother, I never knew my biological mother." Unfortunately, he never got to tell the woman he cared for her because she died before he discovered her whereabouts. His wife, Carmen, and his staff help process and organize the thousands of pieces of paper that are stacked in boxes almost to the ceiling. While his business and his contest keep him busy, Michael found time to write and publish his own book in hopes of inspiring adoptees to look for their birthparents; Adopted Like Me. |
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A Girl’s Best Friend.
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Taft fifth-grader’s poem clinches quarter-carat diamond for her mother.
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| Condensed article from Orange City News by Wes Orshoski. May 6, 1999. |
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What started as a homework assignment for 11-year old Blair Perkins has turned into a family heirloom. A few months ago, Perkins, a fifth-grader at Taft Elementary School, and her classmates were asked to write poems about their mothers. It took Perkins all 30 words to write a poem which yielded a quarter-carat diamond, which retails for about $400. When (Blair's mother) Wendi heard the news, the happy mom said she welled up with tears. She had no idea her daughter had penned the poem. "It’s probably the most special gift I’ll ever receive," said Perkins, 37. |
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Success Is Relative for Man
Who Sought Birth Mother |
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Jerry Hicks. Aug. 6, 1996.
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A few years ago, Costa Mesa jeweler Michael Watson started a contest for schoolchildren in which he gives away jewelry to winners of essays titled, WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND®. What I didn't know: At the time Watson created this contest, he was deeply involved in a 20-year search to find his own mother. And since then he’s found her- or found out about her. Watson found nearly a dozen relatives he didn't know he had- including a grandmother, two brothers, and a sister who is his spitting image. It’s taken him three reunions to finally meet them all. Now the search goes on. "I still have one sister to go," Watson said. "I'm not going to give up until I find her." Many times missing family members manage to find each other because both sides are searching. Not so in Watson’s case. "I wasn't a missing sibling, I was more like a ghost," he said. Watson was born in Indianapolis to Betty Price; he was the third of her five children. But he never left the hospital with his mother. He’s since learned that Betty Price told everybody else in the family that he was stillborn. None of them knew to even look for him, because they assumed he didn't exist.... Watson knew only three facts about his real mother: that her name was Betty, that she was 22 when he was born, and that she had lived on Delaware Street in Indianapolis. "From those three facts I've been able to find my family, though it took a very, very long time," he said. The first person he found was his maternal grandmother, Hattie Stewart, in 1994. He called her at her home in tiny Coatesville, Ind. Watson learned from her that his mother, Betty, had died in 1981 from complications related to a life of alcoholism. "She lived a very hard life," his grandmother told him. But he did learn from his grandmother that he had all these brothers and sisters. "Finding my mother had always been the focus of my search. I had no idea at all that I had any siblings," he said. It was Labor Day weekend that he finally met his grandmother back in Indiana, along with several aunts and uncles. And it was Labor Day weekend in 1995, at a reunion that they vowed to have, that he met his two brothers. It was just last month- the week of the Fourth of July- that he finally met his sister Suzie. "She was in her yard (in Indianapolis) when I walked up," he said. "I knew it was her because she looks exactly like me."... Watson knows only three facts about his still missing sister: Her name (Debra Kay), her date of birth (12-6-1955), and where she was born. But then, he’s already shown what he can do when he’s got three facts to work with. |
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Sixth-Grader’s Essay a True Gem
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Jackie Sheckler. The Herald Times. Bloomington. April 17, 1999.
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For close to four hours, Chris Olsen-Phillips worked on his essay. He would cross out a word, add another one. Being limited to 30 words made it tougher, as did the subject matter. The 11-year-old was writing about his mother. "I wrote it six times," he said. Finally, he was satisfied. And so were the judges. The sixth-grade student at Binford Elementary School was a grand prize winner in the annual WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND® essay contest. The contest received 14,150 entries this year, including 1,500 from 65 Indiana schools. But being a grand prize winner was not something Chris or anyone else expected. Watson called Binford Elementary with the announcement. When Deb Olsen picked her son up after school, "his friends were so excited, Chris almost didn't get to tell me himself." |
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Mom’s a Gem
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Brenda Rees. The Tidings. May 7, 1999. |
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n Rosa Marrero’s fifth grade class at St. Malachy School in Los Angeles, Mothers Day - and moms in general - are a pretty big deal. In honor of the upcoming holiday, banners, signs, poems and various selections from prayer books were scattered around the classroom, which Marrero said was probably inspirational and made the students motivated to write their essays." She’s referring to essays her 21 students wrote and submitted as part of an annual contest that challenges kids to compose, WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND®. Winners of the essay will receive a diamond for their mothers. When her student, Roberto Ruiz, was announced as one of the five winners of the contest, Marrero said she was pleasantly surprised. " Written with poetic flair, Ruiz’s essay is a simple homage to his mother, Margarita. Margarita said the winning essay is merely the latest example of her son’s academic accomplishments. "I feel very proud of him," she said. "He surprises me more and more each day. I ask God to help him remain on his path." |
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Sixth Grader’s Poem Proves it’s a Real Gem
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ANDREA BROWN. Colorado Springs, CO.
March 7, 2005. |
| A simple poem had a fairy tale ending for sixth-grader Emily Magers. She turned a 27-word verse into a quarter-carat diamond. The poem was selected from 22,629 entries in a national WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND® contest sponsored by a California jeweler. She won a $500 diamond for her mom. “I was just doing homework,” 11-year-old Emily said. “I didn’t think I’d win anything.” It took her about three days and three tries to get the words to sparkle. “I started doing a rhyming one,” she said. “Then I was like, ‘Well, this is too long.’ So, I said, ‘OK, I’ll do a smaller one,’ but then I didn’t like that one.” She came up with this: “Her voice, a nightingale. Her touch, butterfly wings. Her heart, overflowing with love. Her kisses, flawless bubbles. Mom, a perfect gem . . . a gift forever.” Her mother, Kyong, a lunch lady at Sand Creek High School, was touched by the sentiment from her only daughter. “I didn’t think she felt that way,” she said. “Sometimes I give her a hard time. Being a mom, I want her to do a little better.” Timberview Middle School language arts teacher Bridget Burdan said the assignment was optional. She said Emily is an exceptional student. “My mouth dropped open. It was such a beautiful poem,” Burdan said. “I thought she had a chance.” Michael Watson, owner of Gallery of Diamonds in Costa Mesa, Calif., started the contest in 1993 to honor his adopted and birth mothers — and all mothers. ...It grew from a local to national contest, each year drawing more entries. Three diamond winners were selected, two from Orange County and one from the national pool. Emily learned the good news at school. “My teacher said, ‘I have a huge announcement: You won!’” she said. Mom’s reaction? “I cried,” she said. This makes her second diamond: the first is in a wedding band from Emily’s father, Larry. “Two special occasions,” Emily said. |
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MICHIGAN
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Sparkling Gems
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Alison Vanderlaan. Sparta Area Schools Bell Ringer. June, 2005. |
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The 13th annual Why Mom Deserves a Diamond® writing contest proved to be a huge success. This contest was started by Gallery of Diamonds' president, Michael Watson. Since Watson was adopted he wanted to show tribute to both his birth mom and his adoptive mom. Thousands of students from all over the country seemed to feel the same challenge to recognize their own mothyers. This year around 21,000 poems landed on Watson's desk. |
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Words of Love to Explain
Why Mom Deserves a Diamond |
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Joseph Serna. The Daily Pilot. Jan 1, 2008. |
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Nine Orange County teachers will be looking for a gem this month when they judge thousands of essays submitted by county students as part of the Why Mom Deserves a Diamond contest. Newport Beach’s Gallery of Diamonds jewelry store is hosting its 16th annual poetry contest challenging students to submit their best essay on why their mom deserves a diamond. The winning students will be given a ¼ carat diamond for their mom on Diamonds Day, March 1. Last year, 553 teachers from 161 schools submitted more than 15,000 essays. Nine county teachers will make the final choice. Since 1993, nearly 250,000 kids have written words honoring their moms. |
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Kids Can Win a Diamond
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Jan Norman. Orange County Register. Jan 6, 2008. |
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For 16 years now, Michael Watson, owner of Gallery of Diamonds in Newport Beach, has been encouraging elementary and high school students to write and honor their moms at the same time. Jan. 17 is the deadline for this year’s edition of Gallery of Diamonds’ “Why Mom Deserves a Diamond” contest. Students in first through 12th grades diamond.jpgsubmit an essay on the topic. Entries are judged on creativity and the writer’s age. First prize is an unmounted 1/4-caret diamond valued at $500. Winners will be announced March 1. The deadline seems to be earlier every year, but that’s understandable. Watson reads every entry, and last year he received more than 15,000 entries from 161 schools. It’s gotten so big, Watson enlists the help of Orange County teachers to help judge the essays. Watson started the contest in 1993 to honor his adoptive mom and birthmom, who he had searched for but never met. Since then the contest has evolved to honor all moms. Almost 250,000 kids have submitted essays over the years. |
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Mother's Day Contest Founder By Staff. Jewelers Circular Keystone Magazine. April 1, 2005. Michael C. Watson, president of Gallery of Diamonds in Costa Mesa, Calif., and sponsor of the annual writing contest "WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND®," has published a book titled Adopted Like Me: Chosen to Search for Truth, Identity, and a Birthmother about his long-time search for his birth mother. The book includes essays written by contest winners, who receive a diamond to give to their mothers on Mother's Day. |
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A Whole Lotta Love Fred Michmershuizen. Instore Magazine. Pg 130-131. March 8, 2008. When Gallery of Diamonds launched its WHY MOM DESERVES A DIAMOND® contest in 1993, the store received 250 essays. Today the renowned contest gets 200,000 entries from across the nation. The promotion is the brainchild of Michael Watson, president of Gallery of Diamonds and author of Adopted Like Me. "This started out as a cute little contest 17 years ago," Watson says. "Now we have 15 teachers we pay as contest panel judges." |